Tammy Dickinson, United States attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced a Maryville man who is a registered sex offender was sentenced December 19 in federal court on charges related to child pornography.

Edward Grimes, 58, Maryville, was sentenced by US Chief District Judge Greg Kays to 19 years in federal prison without parole. Grimes, a registered sex offender, has prior felony convictions in New York for sexual abuse of a child and for a criminal sexual act against a child under the age of 14 – for which he is subject to lifetime sex offender registration – and for endangering the welfare of a child, related to a sexual act against a four-year-old victim.

On July 6, 2015, Grimes pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to distribute child pornography over the internet, one count of attempting to receive child pornography over the internet and one count of possessing child pornography. Grimes admitted that he attempted to distribute child pornography over the internet on March 29, 2013; that he attempted to receive child pornography over the internet on December 31, 2013; and that he possessed child pornography on February 12, 2014.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant US Attorney Catherine A. Connelly. It was investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).